Nitpick: the CRISPR was on the embryos, not the babies.
Although I don’t think what He Jiankui did was scientifically justified (the benefit of HIV resistance wasn’t worth the risk – he should have chosen PCSK9 instead of CCR5), I think the current norms against human genetic enhancement really are stifling a lot of progress.
Agreed. On the other hand, what I read suggests He Jiankui was bottlenecked on parental consent. For his first-in-human trial, he couldn’t recruit any parents interested in editing PCSK9, but some parents, themselves HIV patients, whose contacts were relatively easily acquired from HIV support group, really really cared about (as you pointed out, and I agree, incorrectly) editing CCR5, and were easily recruited. It sometimes happens recruiting participants is the limiting factor in doing trials, and I think it was the case here.
Nitpick: the CRISPR was on the embryos, not the babies.
Although I don’t think what He Jiankui did was scientifically justified (the benefit of HIV resistance wasn’t worth the risk – he should have chosen PCSK9 instead of CCR5), I think the current norms against human genetic enhancement really are stifling a lot of progress.
Agreed. On the other hand, what I read suggests He Jiankui was bottlenecked on parental consent. For his first-in-human trial, he couldn’t recruit any parents interested in editing PCSK9, but some parents, themselves HIV patients, whose contacts were relatively easily acquired from HIV support group, really really cared about (as you pointed out, and I agree, incorrectly) editing CCR5, and were easily recruited. It sometimes happens recruiting participants is the limiting factor in doing trials, and I think it was the case here.